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Ion Exchangers
Labman is official distributor for Neptec GmbH ion exchangers and laboratory water systems in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Ion Exchangers are ion exchange water filters that use cartridges of mixed bed ion exchange resin produce deionized water. They are an economical alternative to reverse osmosis or pure water systems when ion removal as a sole parameter is sufficient. When the resin is saturated, it can be replaced with single use resin or regenerable resin. Labman offers installation and regeneration services.
What is the difference between ion exchangers and reverse osmosis water?
Laboratory ion exchangers or laboratory deionizers only focus on the removal of ions by the use of mixed bed resin (a mix of anion ion exchange resin and cationic ion exchange resin). So it will only reduce the inorganic content of the water. Reverse osmosis systems use a combination prefiltration and reverse osmosis. The reverse osmosis membrane will reduce also reduce the organic contaminants, particles, micro-organisms and endotoxin levels.
Mixed bed/ion exchange resin gets saturated, so needs to be replaced frequently, increasing consumable and labor cost.
Reverse osmosis is a continuous technology, so has a lower cost of ownership (but keep in mind there is also a waste water stream called the concentrate).
What is better: ion exchangers or reverse osmosis systems?
Ion exchangers are the better solution if only ion removal (deionization) is sufficient and if the usage is low.
Reverse osmosis systems are better if other contaminants like organic contamination, dissolved particles and micro-organisms are important. If looking at cost of ownership, reverse osmosis systems are the better solution when usage is high.
How do laboratory ion exchangers work?
Laboratory ion exchangers or laboratory deionizers are cartridges that are filled with mixed bed resin to demineralize water. Mixed bed resin is a mix of anion exchange resin and cation exchange resin. The anion exchange resin captures anions and releases hydroxyl ions. The cation exchange resin captures cations and releases hydrogen ions. This process involving the exchange of ions for hyrogen and and hydroxyl ions (that together form water) is called demineralization or deionization.
Ion exchangers are connected to pressurized tab water and deionized water comes out with a conductivity reduced to approx. 0,1 µS/cm.
After a while the ion exhange resin will get saturated and the conductivity of the product water will increase (signaling it is time to replace the resin).
Can ion exchangers be used for ultrapure water generation?
Ion exchange resin as a sole technology is not sufficient to reach ultrapure water quality. The resistivity will not reach the required 18.2 MΩ.cm quality and other contaminants like organic content and micro organisms will not be reduced. For ultrapure water production, a combination of technologies are needed.
Discover our range of ultrapure water systems.
Can I feed my ultrapure water system with an ion exchanger?
Some ultrapure water systems are constructed with a shortened production process and have purified feed water requirements. For the feed water requirements, often ‘reverse osmosis, DI, EDI or distillated water’ is advised. It is confusing, but in this case, DI often refers to type 2 pure water produced by a combination of pre-filtration, reverse osmosis and deionization. Ion exchangers as a sole technology are not sufficient to feed this type of ultrapure water systems.
If your lab water system is suitable to produce ultrapure water from tap water, there is no problem to feed it with an ion exchanger of course.
How often should ion exchange resins be regenerated or replaced?
To calculate the regeneration or replacement frequency for your deionizer resin, you need 3 pieces of information:
- The conductivity of the feed water for the ion exchanger
- The usage of deionized water (per day, week or month)
- The capacity of your ion exchanger at 300µS/cm (this information can be found in the datasheets)
Datasheets mention the capacity at 300µS/cm. With the conductivity of the feed water, you can use this value to calculate the capacity for your laboratory. Once the actual capacity of the ion exchange resin is know, the laboratory usage can be used to estimate the regeneration/replacement frequency.
- Product: demineralized water 0,1 – 20 µS/cm
- Feed: tap water
- Production speed: 500 L/h
- Production capacity in L at 300 µS/cm: 2500 L
- Connection: 3/4″
€870,00 excl. VAT
- Product: demineralized water 0,1 – 20 µS/cm
- Feed: tap water
- Production speed: 600 L/h
- Production capacity in L at 300 µS/cm: 2800 L
- Connection: 3/4″
€1.005,00 excl. VAT
- Product: demineralized water 0,1 – 20 µS/cm
- Feed: tap water
- Production speed: 1000 L/h
- Production capacity in L at 300 µS/cm: 3600 L
- Connection: 3/4″
€1.285,00 excl. VAT
- Product: demineralized water 0,1 – 20 µS/cm
- Feed: tap water
- Production speed: 1800 L/h
- Production capacity in L at 300 µS/cm: 6000 L
- Connection: 3/4″